Housebuilder Persimmon has seen its pre-tax profit jump by 57% in the first half of the year.

The company said underlying profit reached £212.9m in the six months to the end of June.

Revenue in the period was also up 33% to £1.2bn and it said sale completions in the six months were up 28%.

It sold 6,408 new homes with an average selling price up 4.3% at £186,970.

The results cover the months when there was a flurry of increased activity in the housing market.

It bought 14,251 building plots in the period, pushing its portfolio of consented land sites to 82,250.

Sharp price rises were only slowed late in the period, when the fear of rate rises and new mortgage affordability rules were brought in.

Group chief executive Jeff Fairburn told Sky News: "We see good confidence in the market so we are seeing good visitor levels.

"Certainly the mortgage market is very supportive at the moment and Help to Buy, as a message, is certainly bringing confidence to buyers - particularly first-time buyers - and enabling them to buy new homes.

"So we're pleased to see the additional demand and we're keen to step up our production to meet that."

The company said it has now built a cash stockpile of £326m, up from £48m in the same period last year.

The results come a day after Bovis Homes said its pre-tax profit for the first six months of the year was up 166%, to £49.4m, on the back of a record number of completions.